The Mets pick up their first series win of the 2024 season against the Reds, winning 2 out of 3 against the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati. Up next for the 3-6 Mets are the 6-2 Braves in Atlanta.
Cincinnati Reds Series – What Did We Learn?
In the early goings of the 2024 season, the Mets are winning through a formula of good pitching and timely hitting. While the Mets won 2 out of 3 from the Reds, the overall score for the series was tied 12-12. The Mets victories were scores of 3-2 (Game 1) and 3-1 (Game 3). While the offense somewhat broke out in Game 2 for 6 runs, the bullpen couldn’t back up a good start from Luis Severino and the Reds won 9-6. Here are the key takeaways from each game:
Game 1: Mets 3, Reds 2. Jeff McNeil hit a home run in the top of the 8th inning to give the Mets some needed insurance, taking a 3-1 lead. The 9th inning became a bit stressful. Edwin Diaz came on to pick up the save, and promptly allowed the first two batters to reach base via an error (on Diaz) and then a walk. After a groundout put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, a sacrifice fly by Jeimer Candelario plated the Reds’ second run before Diaz closed out the game with a strikeout for his first save of the season, and first since October 2022. Also of note, Jose Quintana pitched 5.2 innings of 1 run ball and the bullpen combination of Drew Smith (who picked up the win), Brooks Raley and Adam Ottavino did well to bridge to Diaz. The Mets offense only produced 4 hits.
Game 2: Reds 9, Mets 6. The story of this game was the bottom of the 8th inning, when Cincinnati plated 5 runs to turn a 5-4 Mets lead to a 9-5 Reds lead. Yohan Ramirez, after a scoreless 7th inning, took it on the chin in the bottom of the 8th. Spencer Steer delivered a 3-run home run in the inning to provide the spark. The Mets were on a restricted bullpen given use in the first game of the series so it was going to be Ramirez’s inning (and Jorge Lopez for the 9th if there was a save situation). Luis Severino looked a lot better in this start compared to his first start of the year against the Brewers. On the offensive side, Omar Narvaez delivered 3 hits with Brandon Nimmo, Brett Baty (batting cleanup) and Starling Marte providing 2 hits each.
Game 3: Mets 3, Reds 1. Another strong start by the Mets pitching staff in this game, with Sean Manaea giving up 1 earned run over 5 innings. The bullpen showed itself to be a strength again, as Jorge Lopez, Brooks Raley, and Adam Ottavino combined for 3 hitless innings and Edwin Diaz pitched a hitless 9th with 2 strikeouts to earn his second save of the season. Francisco Lindor, from the right side of the plate, delivered a double in the 1st inning and a home run in the 4th. Starling Marte and Tyrone Taylor also had multi-hit games with 2 hits each.
Here’s the good I take out of this series for the Mets:
Starting Pitching: The starters in each game of the series performed extremely well. Jose Quintana (2.61 ERA in 2024), in the first game of the series on Friday, kept the Reds off balance throughout and hit his spots well over 102 pitches and 5.2 innings, giving up 1 earned run to go along with 4 strikeouts. Luis Severino (3.60 ERA) took the mound on Saturday and provided a gutsy 5 inning start, allowing only 1 earned run on 3 hits over 99 pitches while striking out 7. To wrap up the series, Sean Manaea (0.82 ERA) pitched well for his second straight start to kick off his Mets tenure. He allowed 1 run on 3 hits with 6 strikeouts in 5 innings.
Silver Slugging Shortstop: After an 0-for-24 slump, Francisco Lindor hit both a home run and double in the last game of the series. It was just a matter of time before Lindor would break out of the slump. Similar to other points in his career, a game where Lindor bats from the right side of the plate could help right the ship. Kudos to Lindor for continuing to be a strong leader in the clubhouse for the Mets.
Cue the Trumpets: Welcome back to save situations, Edwin Diaz. After the initial homestead of 2024 did not result in any save opportunities for him, the first game of the Reds series brought the first save opportunity. While Diaz did give up a run in the 9th inning, the Mets still won the game 3-2 and he picked up his first save since October 2022. The final game on Sunday was another save opportunity, with the Mets again ahead 3-1. This time, Diaz made quick work of the Reds, striking out 2 and not giving up any hits to pick up his second save of the season.
Here’s what needs to improve moving forward:
Timely Hitting: The Mets put together 12 runs over the 3 games in Cincinnati, but 6 of those runs came in the second game. There were times like in Game 3 where the bases were loaded with nobody out and the Mets only scored one run (and that’s because Brandon Nimmo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded). J.D. Martinez is not going to be joining the team in Atlanta so reinforcements are still at least a few days away.
Fielding Concerns: Teams are adjusting to the new rules like obstruction, and the Mets committed 4 errors (1 driven by obstruction) over the first 2 games of the series. When timely hits and runs are at a premium, the pitching staff needs strong defense behind them. While the fielding has not cost the Mets any games yet, it’s something to watch moving forward in Atlanta and beyond. Keith Hernandez always stresses fundamentals (“fundies”) on broadcasts, and the Mets need to make sure theirs don’t slip.
Who’s Next: Atlanta Braves
Up next are the 6-2 Atlanta Braves. The Braves are coming off a series sweep over the 2023 NL champion Arizona Diamondbacks. Atlanta has proven itself to be the team to beat in the NL East over the past few years. It’s also hard to forget 2022, when the Mets and Braves both finished with 101 wins and the division title went to Atlanta via tiebreaker. Here are a few players to watch, with ties to the Mets or who were discussion points for the Mets:
Travis d’Arnaud: The catcher had great potential when he joined the Mets. He was with the Amazins from 2013-2019 but the potential was never fulfilled. Now with the Braves, d’Arnaud was a 2022 All-Star and a 2020 Silver Slugger.
Jarred Kelenic: Kelenic was the Mets first round draft pick at #6 overall in 2018. He was then traded to the Seattle Mariners later that year as part of the deal that brought Edwin Diaz to the Mets (as well as Robinson Cano).
After the team’s first series win of the season in Cincinnati, the Mets will need all phases to click to continue the winning ways against the Braves in Atlanta. Julio Teheran will make his first start as a Met to begin the series on Monday. Hopefully he will have similar results as a Met as he did facing the Mets (he was a notorious Mets killer). As always, Let’s Go Mets!
By : Jason Krom
Stats by espn.com
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